Fire and rain and Fenway
Boston superstar James Taylor looks to the future
James Taylor already has one impressive Massachusetts concert tradition — that would be his annual Independence Day weekend shows at Tanglewood. But he's open to adding another.
On Wednesday, the Boston native returns to a sold-out Fenway Park for a second headlining gig in as many years. He says he'd be game to come back in 2017 (and maybe 2018 and beyond).
“I'm sure there is a lot of competition for those few spots when the Sox are away,” he said. “But I'd love to do it.”
Taylor is an enduring superstar. He has produced 12 Top 40 singles, and his greatest hits package has gone platinum 11 times over. Last summer, his new album, “Before This World,” became his first No. 1 — 47 years after his debut.
But he knew Fenway might have been a reach for him. Could mellow rock — even mellow rock as sweet and smart as Taylor's — thrill a major league ballpark?
“It does feel unusually vast when you're on stage,” he said. “But it was great. ... You think that the music can't be intimate, you wonder how it will play to that audience. It plays wonderfully.”
Taylor enjoyed the experience so much, he doubled his stadium count this season. In June, he and Jackson Browne, who will also play Fenway, filled Wrigley Field.
After a lifetime of playing iconic spots, Taylor puts the storied ballparks alongside the world's greatest concert venues.
“They're bigger than I'm used to playing, but they give you a real boost,” he said. “At that first Fenway show, I could feel the energy in the space. People are on their feet quicker. It has a different vibe. I put these parks with Red Rocks in Colorado, the Gorge in Washington and Tanglewood as amazing places to find yourself on stage.”
At 68, Taylor is the rare musician who openly talks about the end of his career.
“I can't really see myself doing this at 80,” he said. Traditionally, by the close of one summer, he's planning the next. But he's started to wonder if he needs to be a little more judicious with his time. If he wants to release a new album, he better get writing (13 years passed between “Before This World” and “October Road”).
“I should give myself another sabbatical year to write,” he said “But I have this remarkable band. It sounds boastful but they're the best. ... What's my next step? I look at what Paul Simon and Sting have done and I think about writing a musical.”
This idea isn't a passing fancy. Taylor tried penning one a couple of decades ago, but that was before he was sober and he didn't have the discipline to get far.
Whatever Taylor picks, he'll wait until summer's done before he makes any big career plans. Right now, he's focused on Fenway.
“I had Jackson out to western Massachusetts a little while ago so we could rehearse and work on a few things,” he said. “I think people will really like what we've worked out. I'm so used to being up there on my own, so it's also special for me to be standing next to Jackson.”